Elephants!

Today a group of twelve of us went on an elephant and rafting tour.  It was SO much fun!  We started with elephant rides, it was about an hour long ride through the countryside.  There was a mahout with each elephant, guiding them along.  There was also a baby elephant following its mother!  The elephants were beautiful and we even got to sit on their necks for part of the ride!  It was pretty surreal.

After the elephant ride we hiked for about 20 minutes to a small waterfall and got to swim in the river.  The water was a little chilly, but it felt great and it was really pretty.

Lastly, we went bamboo rafting down a river.  There were four of us on a raft and a Thai guy steering us.  We were all completely soaked from head to toe because the rafts were partly submerged and because anyone that we passed by on the river would smile and then splash us!  There were lots of Thai families and groups of people hanging out by the river, floating, and drinking.  It was definitely something I want to do again!

It was a long day, but so worth it!  It reminded me why I chose to come to this country.  Tomorrow we have a cooking class booked, so hopefully I'll be able to make some yummy Thai food when I get back!

Actually in the Classroom

I now have two days of teaching under my belt!  Yesterday we all had to attempt a young learners lesson.  We were split into four classrooms and everyone had half an hour to try and get through a lesson plan with 38 six year olds.  It pretty much felt like being thrown into a shark tank.  Apparently the kids were only there so that we could practice and were actually on their summer vacation.  Needless to say, it was difficult.  Everyone made it through without breaking down and we are all better for it.
Today, we each had to conduct a basic lesson plan with thirteen year olds.  They were ten times more well-behaved than the little ones, which made today much less stressful.  It was still pretty challenging because there were 48 of them in the classroom and no matter what, it's hard to make everyone pay attention to you without feeling like you are yelling.  The classrooms are really noisy: a combination of 48 students and no real windows or doors.  They're also quite hot; there are fans going, but when you're up there and no one's responding to your question it's hard not to sweat.  That being said, I think today went pretty well!  Tomorrow I have to do a listening lesson plan with 50 fourteen year olds, I'll let you know how it goes...

A Well Deserved Day Off



Ashley, Brit, Keely, Melinda, Tiffany, Jess



This week we had an extra day of class on Saturday so that we would be prepared to go into classrooms next week.  Six days of class had taken a toll on us, so a group of us went out to a couple bars in old city, the central part of Chiang Mai.  We ended up at this awesome reggae bar with a live band.  When we showed up no one was dancing, but by the time we left around 2 a.m. we even had some Thais dancing on the tables!  It was the perfect way to unwind after a long week.



I resisted the urge to sleep in today and Ashley, Melinda, Amy, and I went to Doi Suthep, one of the sacred mountain peaks in Chiang Mai.  After a long, windy ride up in a sorng taa ou we reached the entrance to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the temple at the top of the mountain.  We hiked up 300 stairs until we made it to the temple.  There were lots of other people there, both foreigners and Thais, and lots of people praying.  The wat was beautiful and we got a nice view of Chiang Mai. 

 

After we got back, we went for Thai massages.  You can get an hour long massage for 200 baht, which is about $7!  It was heaven.  Then we walked around the night market, where you can pretty much buy anything, even bugs (and no, I wasn't daring enough to try).





So many food stalls, so little time! (4/22)

Ashley, Amy, me,  and Tiffany

The food in Thailand lives up to the hype; it's as delicious and cheap as I hoped it would be.  The main road by our hotel is lined with food stalls and open-air restaurants.  For breakfast, a lot of Thais eat curry, rice, or soup.  As a breakfast lover, this is a hard transition for me, so I've been sticking to fruit.  I bought some mangos from the market and they are some of the best mangos I've ever had.  For lunch we get an hour break from class and some of us will walk to one of the many restaurants that line the streets.  I've had a really good green curry, a pho-type soup with pork, a curry coconut chicken soup, papaya salad, and really good smoothies.  For dinner we'll either eat something similar or go to one of the food stalls on the street that come out in the evening.  There are all kinds of food stalls; everything from sushi to omlettes (don't ask me why the omlette stand doesn't come out til after 5pm..) to meat on a stick to spring rolls to desserts.  I've been having a lot of fun trying new things and will often end up ordering something without really knowing what's going to come out.  The prices are so cheap here that it's hard not to try everything!  My green curry dish was 35 baht ($1 is about 30 baht), a fruit smoothie is 20 baht, and a 2 egg omlette served on top of rice is only 15 baht!  Dinner for 50 cents is hard to beat.





soup with pork meatballs



Oh yeah...we're here to work! (4/18)

Today was our first day of the TESOL course (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).  There are about 20 people in the class; the majority from the US and some from England, Ireland, and South Africa.  The first two days of the class are a crash course in Thai culture and language.  Our Thai teacher, Pat, taught us the proper way to wai, which is a Thai greeting with hands in prayer-form and a bow. 
Then we had our first Thai lesson.  Thai is a tonal language, which means words can be said in high, low, neutral, rising, or falling tones.  A good example of this is the word mai, which can mean five different things based on the tone.  Mai mai mai mai mai could mean "new wood doesn't burn, does it?".  Needless to say there is quite the learning curve...  After class ATI took everyone out for dinner to the Chiang Mai Cultural Center, where we saw some examples of regional Thai dances and dress.

Dinner at the cultural center

Finally In Thailand! (4/15-4/17)

Well, after five flights and over 30 hours of traveling, I am finally in Thailand!  I was lucky enough to arrive without having any delays or plane trouble and my suitcase even made it here too.  I checked into the Sinthana Resort on Friday afternoon, unpacked a bit, and then caught up on sleep.  Yesterday I decided to explore the area around the hotel a bit.  The hotel is on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, right across from Chiang Mai University.  The majority of the restaurants and food stalls around the hotel are completely in Thai.  I was a little overwhelmed to try and attempt that on my first day, so I found an ice cream shop and had kiwi ice cream for lunch. 

In the Bangkok airport

I was relaxing back at the hotel when my roommate showed up!  Her name is Ashley and she's from Florida originally.  She arrived with a few other girls from the program, so we all decided to go into town and get some dinner.  We rode into town on a sorng-taa-ou, which is basically a small pick-up truck with two benches in the back.  It cost 20 baht per person, which is less than a dollar, so it's definitely the cheapest way into town.  We ate at a touristy-type restaurant that had English on the menu.  I had the Pad Thai which was very good.  We stayed out for a couple more drinks and then headed back home.
Today, we ate breakfast at the hotel buffet.  I had rice and a chicken and veggie combo that was pretty spicy.  They say that areas with hot climates eat spicy food to help raise their body temperature, so the outside temperature won't seem as hot.  I embraced that theory this morning and powered through my spicy breakfast in hopes of sweating a little less throughout the day.  Ashley and I decided to walk around town a bit after breakfast.  We stumbled upon a small outdoor market with lots of interesting food choices.  Everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to dried fruits to fish and meat.

Ashley at the market